‘‘And if I have to do it house by house, suburb by suburb, community group by community group, that’s what I’ll do,’’ Mr Baird declared.

After a week of nightmare political developments for his government and Hunter voters alike, in which two of the region’s MPs were forced to quit and a third was exiled to the crossbench, Mr Baird said: ‘‘I’m sorry that the Liberal Party has let down the people of Newcastle.

‘‘It is clear that the actions of a few do not define a majority but I am sorry for the actions and the hurt that has been caused.’’

All funding commitments to the Hunter would be honoured.

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Tim Owen (Newcastle) and Andrew Cornwell (Charlestown) resigned from Parliament on Tuesday after Mr Cornwell’s admission he’d taken what he suspected was a $10,120 attempted bribe from developer Hilton Grugeon and Mr Owen’s admission he’d lied about taking money from Jeff McCloy, then a developer and now Newcastle’s lord mayor.

Mr Baird in opposition had launched Mr Owen’s campaign for the city seat and as Premier backed Mr Cornwell for government whip.

It only got worse on Thursday when Cr McCloy told the inquiry he had given about $1500 in cash to Garry Edwards’ Swansea campaign, sending him to the crossbench.

‘‘I feel disappointed, I feel betrayed, I feel gutted. These are terrible circumstances but we will make it right,’’ the Premier said.

Yet he could not confirm that the Liberal Party would stand candidates in byelections for Newcastle and Charlestown, a date for which may be announced shortly.

‘‘That’s a matter being considered at this point but nothing changes in terms of our commitment to the city or the Hunter.’’

Mr Baird again endorsed all the government’s decisions for inner-city Newcastle, despite calls from some quarters for a probity review of the decisions made, including to truncate the heavy rail and replace it with light rail.

The rail line had been debated for 20 years and the final stage of the Newcastle inner-city bypass road, also to be funded from the proceeds of the Port of Newcastle lease, was a ‘‘long-awaited project’’.

‘‘We will deliver them and we will do it as quickly as we possibly can,’’ he said.

He accused Labor of being ‘‘opportunistic’’ by casting doubt on the heavy rail decision in light of the inquiry.

‘‘Look at what the former Labor member Jodi McKay said, look at what the former treasurer Michael Costa said. Both of them said this was desperately needed,’’ Mr Baird said.

A review of electoral funding rules, headed by respected former public servant Kerry Schott, is due to report to the government about the viability of the public funding of election campaigns and recommend changes.

Mr Baird said he wanted some measures implemented before the next election

‘‘We will be bringing forward options to be in place before this election,’’ he said.

‘‘At the same time, the Schott review will be bringing forward a long-term solution to the challenge that I gave them of removing the corrosive influence of donations in NSW politics. And I look forward to it.’’